


Under Pressure

by deathnoteryuzaki



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Day 1 - Smile, KyouHaba Week, Kyouhabaweek, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-13
Updated: 2015-09-13
Packaged: 2018-04-20 03:46:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4772300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathnoteryuzaki/pseuds/deathnoteryuzaki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yahaba Shigeru is the new captain of Aobajousai, and he's definitely feeling the pressure. When he finally starts to crack, comfort comes from an unlikely source.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Under Pressure

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing for Kyouhaba. I absolutely love the ship so I hope I didn't do too bad on this fic.

At the start of his third year at Aobajousai, Yahaba had been made the captain of the school’s volleyball team. This placed an extreme amount of pressure on him. He felt he had to do as well as the team had done with their previous captain, Oikawa, and former ace Iwaizumi.

Inter-high was going to begin again soon. He was going to start as their setter and wanted to lead their team to victory. Though he was unsure of himself. That’s why he began staying after practice to do anything he could to improve. 

Since it was one week before Inter-high and he had stayed an extra hour to train. He was alone in the locker room, breathing heavy from the work he had done. It was quiet in the room and he let his mind wander. His thoughts started out with the team. Each member had been training very hard. They also knew how important it was to keep up the reputation of the school. Yahaba thought the team was well put together, even Kyoutani had began coming to practice and putting in an effort. 

Yahaba had been worried at the beginning that he wouldn’t listen to him, as Iwaizumi had been the only one the other responded to, but he had surprised the new captain by making an attempt to try. Not all moments were perfect, as they still bickered occasionally, but it didn’t seem to matter after they came to a resolution.

His thoughts shifted towards last year’s team. Oikawa and Iwaizumi had been a duo that played greater than anyone, yet they hadn’t won against Karasuno. Yahaba felt that he didn’t play nearly as well as them.

He covered his face with his hands. The frustration was coming out all at once. He wanted to win, he wanted to play the the best he could, but what if it wasn’t enough? The more he thought about it, the more he doubted himself. 

His eyes were shut tight; he wanted to rip out his hair and scream. He kept thinking that he would never be a great setter, or captain, he believed his team deserved better, someone who could take them farther than they had the previous year. 

He did his best not to cry, but he couldn’t help it. He was stressed, he needed to release his frustrations. His tears were coming out and he started to choke on his sobs. Over and over his mind repeated that he wouldn’t make it and he would never be good enough for his team. He was lost in his own thoughts and paid no attention to anything around him.

Yahaba’s head shot up when he heard the sound of a bang against the door. He immediately went to wipe his tears and was about to apologize for the way he looked, when he saw who was standing in the room with him. It was Kyoutani.

The anger in him decided to rise. Why did it have to be Kyoutani standing at the door. Why does he have to see me this way? “What are you doing here,” he asked angrily.

Kyoutani seemed to ignore his harsh tone. “I just got back from a run. You’re not the only one who has been staying after practice.”

Yahaba didn’t want to talk to anyone right now, especially not the one who was the cause of some of his frustrations. He chose to turn towards his locker and start shoving his clothes in his bag. He was embarrassed, upset, and wanted to go home where he couldn’t be seen crying.  
Kyoutani didn’t say anything while Yahaba put his things away. He simply stood and watched. When the captain was finished, he spoke. 

“You seem upset. What for?” His voice didn’t sound like he was asking in way that was comforting, it sounded more like he was upset and confused as to why he would be here crying.

“It’s nothing,” he responded trying to sound collected, but he knew it came out strained.

“It doesn’t sound like nothing,” he was starting to raise his voice.

“I said it’s nothing, can’t you just leave it at that?” Yahaba was not in the mood to be questioned by anyone, especially by Kyoutani who continuously refused to speak to others.

“It’s obviously not! If it were nothing you wouldn’t be here crying in the locker room by yourself after practice.”

“Just drop it! It’s none of your business, so why does it matter to you?” Yahaba was starting to get defensive. What did it matter to him anyways? He had never bothered with other’s feelings before, so why was he trying asking now.

“Yes it’s my business, you’re our captain and if you’re not thinking clearly right before our match it’s going to affect everyone!”

“Sorry for bringing my problems into your life,” the sarcasm dripped from his mouth. “I’ll think next time before I have an issue. I’ll figure it out on my own, if you’ll excuse me.” Yahaba grabbed his bag and was prepared to run out the door when Kyoutani grabbed his wrist and pulled him back.

“Let me go!” Yahaba was angry, who was Kyoutani to lecture him? He didn’t want to have to stand here and listen to the other try and tell him something for being upset.

“I won’t let you go until you tell me what’s wrong.” He couldn’t escape the ace’s strong grip. He stomped his feet to the ground to try and pull away, but he couldn’t. And he was becoming more and more frustrated because he wasn’t able to.

“You wouldn’t understand so just stop!,” his voice now pleading. The statement caused Kyoutani to stop pulling the other and he loosen his grip; Yahaba stopped struggling as well.

“And what wouldn’t I understand? How do you know I won’t unless you tell me?” His voice was calmer than Yahaba would have expected. The soft tone made him stop and gape for a moment.

“I- it’s really nothing. I wouldn’t want you to worry, and it’s not worth telling,” his voice drifted off.

“If it’s nothing, just say it.” He kept his eyes on Yahaba, expecting him to speak, and by the way he stood, he could tell he wasn’t going to move until he spoke.

Yahaba dropped his head, trying not to look into the other’s eyes. He was nervous. He believed his teammate would just find his problem stupid and just tell him to get over it. He looked back up and Kyoutani was still staring at him and he hadn’t released his hand yet. Yahaba sighed in defeat and spoke.

“Listen. It’s just that...,” he stopped just as soon as he began. He wanted to phrase it in a way that didn’t make him sound pathetic, even though he believed he was. “It’s about Inter-high. I know we have a lot of people expecting our team to do well, because we’ve had such a great team in the past three years, but I’m not an amazing player. What if I’m not good enough to take us where we need to go? I’ll never be Oikawa-san.”

It got quiet after that, neither of them said a word. Kyoutani finally dropped his hand and the silence dragged on. Yahaba believed Kyoutani found his problem ridiculous just like he thought he would. Not being able to stand the silence any longer, Yahaba spoke.

“See? I told you it was dumb.” He rubbed the back of his neck and turned away. “I’m probably worried for nothing. I’ll get over it-”

“No,” Kyoutani cut him off. “It’s not stupid. I’m worried about doing well, too. I mean we, the team, we’re all worried about doing well, but then again, that’s why we’ve been training so hard. We want to win, and do well even without last year’s third years.”

His response was a bit rushed, but he didn’t take his eyes off of Yahaba when he spoke. Yahaba stared at Kyoutani - he was stunned. So he wasn’t the only one who was worried? He definitely wasn’t expecting Kyoutani to be worried. He was their ace; he was strong. He had trained a lot since the beginning of this year, and Yahaba knew he was going to play well. There was no doubt in his mind.

“Well, say something,” Kyoutani spoke, breaking the silence.

“Sorry, I just wasn’t expecting you to be nervous. I mean you’ve improved a lot, I expected you to be confident for our upcoming games.”

“I had to improve a lot, after what happened last year. I know that I’m better now, but that doesn’t take the nerves away. I mean I was confident last year and I messed up, this time around I have to make sure I’m ready.” His voice was sincere and Yahaba was taken aback by his honesty. “And not only me, you’ve seen the entire team try harder, we’ve all been putting in work.”

“I know that,” and he did, but even knowing that didn’t take away the nerves he had building up inside of him.

“And we’ve noticed how hard you’ve been trying,” Kyoutani looked away when he spoke this time and Yahaba immediately faced him when he heard what he had said. He didn’t stop there, Kyoutani kept speaking. “We all see you staying after practice, doing your own work, working harder than anyone else during training. Come on you have to give yourself credit. It takes a lot to do all of the work you’ve done. We all believe in you, and you have to believe in us.”

“But last year, they were-” Kyoutani cut him off.

“Listen! You gotta stop with comparing yourself to Oikawa. You’re not Oikawa and you never will be.” This put Yahaba at a loss for words. He faced his head down and the feeling of failure came rushing over him again.

“I didn’t mean that in a bad way. I meant, yes you’re not Oikawa, you’re two completely different people. But that doesn’t mean you don’t play well. You’re our captain and setter now, you trained under him, and kept going after he left. Now you’re going to play without him, and you’re going to do your best. That’s all we can do. Don’t think about losing, that hasn’t happened for us yet, and it’s not going to happen with our team. So stop bringing yourself down.” 

Yahaba couldn’t believe he was being comforted by Kyoutani right now. The guy had always been harsh, and unwilling to speak to others. But at the moment he was standing in front of Yahaba offering reassuring words and it left him shocked.

“I uh-” Yahaba was almost at a loss for words. “Thank you.” He never thought he’d see the day where he’d be thanking the team’s ace, but here he was.

“Don’t mention it. Can’t have the first years thinking I’m soft or something,” Kyoutani grumbled.

Yahaba’s face broke into a smile and he started laughing. This caused Kyoutani to yell at him to stop, but he didn’t. He continued on and tears pricked at his eyes. Kyoutani pulled on him by the collar and shook him. 

“I said stop!”

“Alright, alright!” Yahaba’s laugh died down and Kyoutani released him. “Thanks again, for what you said.”

“Yeah, whatever,” was all he said.

Yahaba looked around and saw from the open window that the sun was going down. “I guess we’d better get going?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Both of the guys grabbed their bags and headed for the door. On their way out Kyoutani whispered, “You look nice when you smile.”

“What was that?” Yahaba wasn’t sure he had heard right.

“Nothing, nevermind,” Kyoutani pulled ahead of him to avoid looking at Yahaba, but that seemed to answer whether or not he heard right. Yahaba ran to catch up to him.

“You said I look nice when I smile,” he said with another smile on his face and his cheeks pink.

“No, I didn’t. You’re hearing things,” Kyoutani denied, but he could see his ears turning red.

“Yes, you did! Say it again.”

“You’re full of yourself. Maybe you are Oikawa,” he commented.

“Am not, I know what I heard.” And the fact that he had heard it made Yahaba smile wider.

“Then you should have your hearing checked.”

“Aw come on, say it again, this time I’ll record it,” he said bringing out his phone.

“Keep dreaming,” he said over his shoulder.

On the rest of their walk home, Yahaba continued to pester Kyoutani. He kept denying what he had said, but Yahaba didn’t mind. He knew what was said. It made him happy. Yahaba’s worries had left him, he was going to stop comparing himself to Oikawa and just play the best he could with Kyoutani and the rest of their team.


End file.
